Default interest and recovery costs against a defaulter

Default interest: a basis is needed

Default interest is the compensation for late payment, but it cannot be added at will. For it to be owed in a specific amount a foundation is needed: a provision of the condominium regulation, a meeting resolution setting it with a clear calculation basis, or recourse to the statutory interest provided by the legal system.

In the absence of a contractual or meeting basis fixing a conventional rate, the manager cannot invent percentages: the risk is charging sums not owed, which the owner can legitimately contest. The correct practice is to state only the principal in the reminder when there is no basis for interest, and to pursue the meeting or judicial route for what is due for the delay.

The calculation must be verifiable

When a basis exists, interest must be calculated correctly and transparently: reference amount, rate applied, period of delay. A verifiable calculation is essential both for correctness towards the owner and because, in case of judicial recovery, the claim must be liquid, that is, determined with precision.

Stating an estimated or rounded value, without showing the calculation method, weakens the claim and exposes it to disputes. A good management system allows the calculation to be documented line by line, linking each amount to the unpaid instalment and its due date.

Recovery costs: reminders, demand and legal phase

The costs incurred to recover the credit follow a different logic from interest. Ordinary communications, such as reminders, fall within current management and generally do not translate into a separate charge to the individual, save different provisions. When instead the legal phase is activated, with a lawyer's formal demand and then the payment order, costs arise that follow the rules of the procedures.

In the proceedings, the allocation of legal costs is decided by the judge according to the loser-pays principle: the defaulting owner, if they lose, can be ordered to reimburse the costs borne by the condominium. It is therefore the judicial forum that definitively establishes who pays the recovery costs, not a unilateral charge by the manager.

What to avoid so the claim is not contestable

Managing the amounts ancillary to arrears requires care because a mistake turns a founded claim into grounds for dispute. In short, it is best to avoid certain incorrect practices and always keep traceability.

• Do not apply interest without a basis in the regulation, in a resolution or in the law.
• Do not use estimated or undocumented percentages instead of a verifiable calculation.
• Do not charge legal costs to the individual owner before they are decided in the competent forum.
• Do not confuse the principal with the ancillary amounts: in the reminder they must be kept distinct and clear.
• Keep a record of every item, linking it to the unpaid instalment and the relevant due date.

Keeping principal, interest and costs together

Clarity is the manager's best ally: an accounting position that clearly distinguishes principal, any interest owed and costs, with the calculation method in view, makes every claim solid and every communication transparent.

In AmministraPro each owner's position keeps the unpaid instalments, their due dates and the history of reminders linked, so the manager can prepare clear and documented claims, distinguishing the principal owed from the ancillary amounts on a verifiable basis. The accounting and recovery management features, with their plans, are described on the /funzioni and /prezzi pages.

Frequently asked questions